Chapter 1
THE
YELLOW FAIRY BOOK
WORKS BY ANDREW LANG.
COCK LANE AND COMMON SENSE: a Series of Papers. Crown 8vo. 6_s._ 6_d._ _net_.
BAN and ARRIÈRE BAN: a Rally of Fugitive Rhymes. Crown 8vo. 5_s._ _net_.
ST. ANDREWS. With 8 Plates and 24 Illustrations in the Text by T. Hodge. 8vo. 15_s._ _net_.
HOMER AND THE EPIC. Crown 8vo. 9_s._ _net_.
CUSTOM AND MYTH: Studies of Early Usage and Belief. With 15 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3_s._ 6_d._
BALLADS OF BOOKS. Edited by ANDREW LANG. Fcp. 8vo. 6_s._
LETTERS TO DEAD AUTHORS. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net_.
BOOKS AND BOOKMEN. With 2 Coloured Plates and 17 Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net_.
OLD FRIENDS. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net_.
LETTERS ON LITERATURE. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net_.
GRASS OF PARNASSUS. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net_.
ANGLING SKETCHES. With 20 Illustrations by W. G. Burn-Murdoch. Crown 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._
THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 8 Plates and 130 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford and G. P. Jacomb Hood. Crown 8vo. 6_s._
THE RED FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 4 Plates and 96 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford and Lancelot Speed. Crown 8vo. 6_s._
THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 11 Plates and 88 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford. Crown 8vo. 6_s._
THE BLUE POETRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 12 Plates and 88 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford and Lancelot Speed. Crown 8vo. 6_s._
SCHOOL EDITION, without Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._
SPECIAL EDITION, printed on Indian paper. With Notes, but without Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._
THE TRUE STORY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 8 Plates and 58 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford, Lucien Davis, Lancelot Speed, and L. Bogle. Crown 8vo. 6_s._
London: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. New York: 15 East 16th Street.
THE
Yellow Fairy Book
EDITED BY
ANDREW LANG
_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. J. FORD_
LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET 1894
_All rights reserved_
Dedication
TO
JOAN, TODDLES, AND TINY
Books Yellow, Red, and Green and Blue, All true, or just as good as true, And here’s the Yellow Book for _you_!
Hard is the path from A to Z, And puzzling to a curly head, Yet leads to Books—Green, Blue, and Red
For every child should understand That letters from the first were planned To guide us into Fairy Land
So labour at your Alphabet, For by that learning shall you get To lands where Fairies may be met.
And going where this pathway goes, You too, at last, may find, who knows? The Garden of the Singing Rose.
_PREFACE_
The Editor thinks that children will readily forgive him for publishing another Fairy Book. We have had the Blue, the Red, the Green, and here is the Yellow. If children are pleased, and they are so kind as to say that they _are_ pleased, the Editor does not care very much for what other people may say. Now, there is one gentleman who seems to think that it is not quite right to print so many fairy tales, with pictures, and to publish them in red and blue covers. He is named Mr. G. Laurence Gomme, and he is president of a learned body called the Folk Lore Society. Once a year he makes his address to his subjects, of whom the Editor is one, and Mr. Joseph Jacobs (who has published many delightful fairy tales with pretty pictures)[1] is another. Fancy, then, the dismay of Mr. Jacobs, and of the Editor, when they heard their president say that he did not think it very nice in them to publish fairy books, above all, red, green, and blue fairy books! They said that they did not see any harm in it, and they were ready to ‘put themselves on their country,’ and be tried by a jury of children. And, indeed, they still see no harm in what they have done; nay, like Father William in the poem, they are ready ‘to do it again and again.’
[Footnote 1: You may buy them from Mr. Nutt, in the Strand.]
Where is the harm? The truth is that the Folk Lore Society—made up of the most clever, learned, and beautiful men and women of the country—is fond of studying the history and geography of Fairy Land. This is contained in very old tales, such as country people tell, and savages:
‘Little Sioux and little Crow, Little frosty Eskimo.’
These people are thought to know most about fairyland and its inhabitants. But, in the Yellow Fairy Book, and the rest, are many tales by persons who are neither savages nor rustics, such as Madame D’Aulnoy and Herr Hans Christian Andersen. The Folk Lore Society, or its president, say that _their_ tales are not so true as the rest, and should not be published with the rest. But _we_ say that all the stories which are pleasant to read are quite true enough for us; so here they are, with pictures by Mr. Ford, and we do not think that either the pictures or the stories are likely to mislead children.
As to whether there are really any fairies or not, that is a difficult question. Professor Huxley thinks there are none. The Editor never saw any himself, but he knows several people who have seen them—in the Highlands—and heard their music. If ever you are in Nether Lochaber, go to the Fairy Hill, and you may hear the music yourself, as grown-up people have done, but you must go on a fine day. Again, if there are really no fairies, why do people believe in them, all over the world? The ancient Greeks believed, so did the old Egyptians, and the Hindoos, and the Red Indians, and is it likely, if there are no fairies, that so many different peoples would have seen and heard them? The Rev. Mr. Baring-Gould saw several fairies when he was a boy, and was travelling in the land of the Troubadours. For these reasons, the Editor thinks that there are certainly fairies, but they never do anyone any harm; and, in England, they have been frightened away by smoke and schoolmasters. As to Giants, they have died out, but real Dwarfs are common in the forests of Africa. Probably a good many stories not perfectly true have been told about fairies, but such stories have also been told about Napoleon, Claverhouse, Julius Cæsar, and Joan of Arc, all of whom certainly existed. A wise child will, therefore, remember that, if he grows up and becomes a member of the Folk Lore Society, _all_ the tales in this book were not offered to him as absolutely truthful, but were printed merely for his entertainment. The exact facts he can learn later, or he can leave them alone.
There are Russian, German, French, Icelandic, Red Indian, and other stories here. They were translated by Miss Cheape, Miss Alma, and Miss Thyra Alleyne, Miss Sellar, Mr. Craigie (he did the Icelandic tales), Miss Blackley, Mrs. Dent, and Mrs. Lang, but the Red Indian stories are copied from English versions published by the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology, in America. Mr. Ford did the pictures, and it is hoped that children will find the book not less pleasing than those which have already been submitted to their consideration. The Editor cannot say ‘good-bye’ without advising them, as they pursue their studies, to read _The Rose and the Ring_, by the late Mr. Thackeray, with pictures by the author. This book he thinks quite indispensable in every child’s library, and parents should be urged to purchase it at the first opportunity, as without it no education is complete.
A. LANG.
_CONTENTS_
PAGE _The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership_ 1
_The Six Swans_ 4
_The Dragon of the North_ 9
_Story of the Emperor’s New Clothes_ 21
_The Golden Crab_ 26
_The Iron Stove_ 32
_The Dragon and his Grandmother_ 38
_The Donkey Cabbage_ 42
_The Little Green Frog_ 50
_The Seven-headed Serpent_ 60
_The Grateful Beasts_ 64
_The Giants and the Herd-boy_ 75
_The Invisible Prince_ 78
_The Crow_ 92
_How Six Men travelled through the Wide World_ 95
_The Wizard King_ 100
_The Nixy_ 108
_The Glass Mountain_ 114
_Alphege, or the Green Monkey_ 119
_Fairer-than-a-Fairy_ 126
_The Three Brothers_ 134
_The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise_ 138
_The Glass Axe_ 141
_The Dead Wife_ 149
_In the Land of Souls_ 152
_The White Duck_ 155
_The Witch and her Servants_ 161
_The Magic Ring_ 178
_The Flower Queen’s Daughter_ 192
_The Flying Ship_ 198
_The Snow-daughter and the Fire-son_ 206
_The Story of King Frost_ 209
_The Death of the Sun-hero_ 213
_The Witch_ 216
_The Hazel-nut Child_ 222
_The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus_ 225
_Prince Ring_ 237
_The Swineherd_ 249
_How to tell a True Princess_ 254
_The Blue Mountains_ 256
_The Tinder-box_ 265
_The Witch in the Stone Boat_ 274
_Thumbelina_ 279
_The Nightingale_ 291
_Hermod and Hadvor_ 301
_The Steadfast Tin-soldier_ 308
_Blockhead-Hans_ 313
_A Story about a Darning-needle_ 319
_LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS_
_PLATES_
_The Swineherd takes the Ten Kisses_ _Frontispiece_
_The Six Brothers changed into Swans by their Stepmother_ _To face page_ 8
_The Witch-maiden sees the Young Man under a Tree_ „ 12
‘_Here you shall remain chained up until you die_’ „ 20
_The Prince throws the Apple to the Princess_ „ 30
_The Iron Stove_ „ 32
‘_Standing in the doorway a charming maiden at whose sight his mind seemed to give way_’ „ 58
_The Seven-headed Serpent_ „ 62
_The Mirror of the Present_ „ 84
_Prince Gnome learns the Name of his Rival at the Golden Fountain_ „ 88
_The Black Girl stops the Witch with a Bit of the Rock_ „ 144
_Militza and her Maidens in the Garden_ „ 168
_Iwanich casts the Fish into the Water_ „ 172
‘_In winter, when everything is dead, she must come and live with me in my palace underground_’ „ 196
_Simpleton’s Army appears before the King_ „ 204
_The Snow Maiden_ „ 206
‘_Gee-up, my five horses_’ „ 226
_The Swineherd takes the Ten Kisses_ „ 250
_The Irishman arrives at the Blue Mountains_ „ 262
_The Witch comes on Board_ „ 274
_Sigurd hews the Chain asunder_ „ 276
_The King finds the Queen of Hetland_ „ 302
_WOODCUTS IN TEXT_
PAGE
_The Partnership_ 1
_At Home in the Church_ 2
_Protestation_ 3
_The Way of the World_ 3
‘_And then her dress_’ 7
_The Youth secures the Dragon_ 17
_The Emperor comes to see his New Clothes_ 24
‘_Let down, let down thy petticoat that lets thy feet be seen_’ 27
_The Fisherman brings the Crab on the Golden Cushion_ 28
‘_Then she reached the three cutting swords, and got on her plough-wheel and rolled over them_’ 35
_The Dragon carries off the Three Soldiers_ 39
_The Fiend defeated_ 41
_The Maiden obtains the Bird-heart_ 44
_The Hunter is transformed into a Donkey_ 46
_The Young Man gives the Donkeys to the Miller_ 48
_The Prince looks into the Magic Mirror_ 51
_Prince Saphir Steals the Horse and Harness_ 55
_Ferko healed by Magic Waters_ 67
_Ferko before the King_ 68
_Ferko leads the Wolves on_ 73
_The Herd-boy binds up the Giant’s Foot_ 75
_Rosalie_ 82
_In the Labyrinth of Despair_ 85
_The Evil Spirits drag the Girl to the Cauldron_ 93
_My Enemy is given into my Hands_ 97
_The Princess and the Eagle in the Flowery Meadow_ 102
_The Wizard King pays a Visit to the Princess_ 105
_The Miller sees the Nixy of the Mill-pond_ 109
_A Wave swept the Spinning-wheel from the Bank_ 112
_The Boy attacked by the Eagle on the Glass Mountain_ 116
_The King makes Friends with the Green Monkey_ 121
_The Green Monkey in the Bath_ 123
_Lagree gives the Two Bottles to Fairer-than-a-Fairy_ 127
_Fairer-than-a-Fairy summons the Rainbow_ 130
‘_Then the youth swung his mighty sword in the air, and with one blow cut off the serpent’s head_’ 136
‘_My brother, my brother, I am becoming a wolf!_’ 139
‘_But the waters seized her chariot and sunk it in the lowest depths_’ 147
_The Indian finds his Wife sitting by the Fire_ 150
_The Witch persuades the Queen to bathe_ 156
_The King catches the White Duck_ 159
_Iwanich holds fast the Swan_ 163
_Militza leaves Iwanich in the Tree_ 164
_The Prickly Man with his Attendants_ 168
_Iwanich seizes the Magician by his Beard and dashes him to the Ground_ 176
_Martin extinguishes the Flames_ 181
_The Princess summons the twelve Young Men_ 186
_Schurka upsets the Baker_ 187
_The Mouse steals the Ring from the Princess_ 189
_The Dragons dancing_ 195
_The Simpleton awakes and sees the Flying Ship_ 199
_The Comrades in the Flying Ship meet the Drinker_ 201
‘_Maiden, are you warm?_’ 211
_The Sun-hero guards the Apples of the Sun_ 214
‘_Who’s there?_’ 217
_The Comb grows into a Forest_ 220
_The Black King’s Gift_ 224
_The Farmer thinks he sees the Devil in the Chest_ 229
_The Shoemakers and Tanners drive Big Klaus out of the Town_ 231
‘_Open the sack_,’ _said Little Klaus_ 234
_The Woman pushes Prince Ring into the Cask_ 238
_Snati and Prince Ring fight with the Oxen_ 242
_Prince Ring and Snati overthrow the Troll’s Ghost_ 246
_A True Princess_ 255
_The Princess revives the Irishman_ 258
_The Soldier fills his Knapsack with Money_ 267
_The Dog brings in the Princess_ 269
‘_He was skipping along so merrily_’ 271
‘“_Croak, croak, croak!_” _was all he could say_’ 280
_Thumbelina rides on the Water-lily Leaf_ 281
_Thumbelina brings Thistle-down for the Swallow_ 285
_Thumbelina has to spin_ 287
‘_We will call you May blossom_’ 289
_The Kitchenmaid listens to the Nightingale_ 293
_The Present from the Emperor of Japan_ 295
_The True Nightingale sings to the Emperor_ 299
_Hadvor burns the Lion’s Skin_ 306
‘_Don’t look at things that aren’t intended for the likes of you_’ 309
_Down the Drain_ 310
_And that was the End_ 312
‘_Then they oiled the corners of their mouths_’ 314
_Hans fills his Pocket with the Mud_ 315
‘_The reporters giggled,’ &c._ 317
_THE CAT AND THE MOUSE IN PARTNERSHIP_
A cat had made acquaintance with a mouse, and had spoken so much of the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at last the Mouse consented to live in the same house with her, and to go shares in the housekeeping. ‘But we must provide for the winter or else we shall suffer hunger,’ said the Cat. ‘You, little Mouse, cannot venture everywhere in case you run at last into a trap.’ This good counsel was followed, and a little pot of fat was bought. But they did not know where to put it. At length, after long consultation, the Cat said, ‘I know of no place where it could be better put than in the church. No one will trouble to take it away from there. We will hide it in a corner, and we won’t touch it till we are in want.’ So the little pot was placed in safety; but it was not long before the Cat had a great longing for it, and said to the Mouse, ‘I wanted to tell you, little Mouse, that my cousin has a little son, white with brown spots, and she wants me to be godmother to it. Let me go out to-day, and do you take care of the house alone.’
‘Yes, go certainly,’ replied the Mouse, ‘and when you eat anything good, think of me; I should very much like a drop of the red christening wine.’
But it was all untrue. The Cat had no cousin, and had not been asked to be godmother. She went straight to the church, slunk to the little pot of fat, began to lick it, and licked the top off. Then she took a walk on the roofs of the town, looked at the view, stretched herself out in the sun, and licked her lips whenever she thought of the little pot of fat. As soon as it was evening she went home again.
‘Ah, here you are again!’ said the Mouse; ‘you must certainly have had an enjoyable day.’
‘It went off very well,’ answered the Cat.
‘What was the child’s name?’ asked the Mouse.
‘Top Off,’ said the Cat drily.
‘Topoff!’ echoed the Mouse, ‘it is indeed a wonderful and curious name. Is it in your family?’
‘What is there odd about it?’ said the Cat. ‘It is not worse than Breadthief, as your godchild is called.’
Not long after this another great longing came over the Cat. She said to the Mouse, ‘You must again be kind enough to look after the house alone, for I have been asked a second time to stand godmother, and as this child has a white ring round its neck, I cannot refuse.’
The kind Mouse agreed, but the Cat slunk under the town wall to the church, and ate up half of the pot of fat. ‘Nothing tastes better,’ said she, ‘than what one eats by oneself,’ and she was very much pleased with her day’s work. When she came home the Mouse asked, ‘What was this child called?’
‘Half Gone,’ answered the Cat.
‘Halfgone! what a name! I have never heard it in my life. I don’t believe it is in the calendar.’
Soon the Cat’s mouth began to water once more after her licking business. ‘All good things in threes,’ she said to the Mouse; ‘I have again to stand godmother. The child is quite black, and has very white paws, but not a single white hair on its body. This only happens once in two years, so you will let me go out?’
‘Topoff! Halfgone!’ repeated the Mouse, ‘they are such curious names; they make me very thoughtful.’
‘Oh, you sit at home in your dark grey coat and your long tail,’ said the Cat, ‘and you get fanciful. That comes of not going out in the day.’
The Mouse had a good cleaning out while the Cat was gone, and made the house tidy; but the greedy Cat ate the fat every bit up. ‘When it is all gone one can be at rest,’ she said to herself, and at night she came home sleek and satisfied. The Mouse asked at once after the third child’s name.
‘It won’t please you any better,’ said the Cat, ‘he was called Clean Gone.’
‘Cleangone!’ repeated the Mouse. ‘I do not believe that name has been printed any more than the others. Cleangone! What can it mean?’ She shook her head, curled herself up, and went to sleep.
From this time on no one asked the Cat to stand godmother; but when the winter came and there was nothing to be got outside, the Mouse remembered their provision and said, ‘Come, Cat, we will go to our pot of fat which we have stored away; it will taste very good.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ answered the Cat; ‘it will taste as good to you as if you stretched your thin tongue out of the window.’
They started off, and when they reached it they found the pot in its place, but quite empty!
‘Ah,’ said the Mouse, ‘now I know what has happened! It has all come out! You are a true friend to me! You have eaten it all when you stood godmother; first the top off, then half of it gone, then——’
‘Will you be quiet!’ screamed the Cat. ‘Another word and I will eat you up.’